Monday, February 28, 2011

Any supposed new career move that Ronald D. Moore, his publicist, or his stealth marketing entourage at SyFy Channel is foolish enough to even mention always....typically.....ends in the sort of "ho hum" reality that has become all too typical of Ronald D. Moore. His stealth marketing entourage was quick to sound the trumpets that Ronald D. Moore "was making a triumphant and spectacular new career move to Sony." Yet, long since after this "supposedly spectacular career move" took place, who have been the only customers to buy Ronald D. Moore's new projects being developed at Sony? Why....none other than his usual band of corporate buddies at NBC-TV and SyFy Channel. His same band of corporate buddies he has been "corporate buddies" with for the past decade. His same "corporate buddies" who have been rubber stamping all of his ratings failing "Galactica in Name Only Series" on the SyFy Channel.

Am I missing Something? Wasn't Ronald D. Moore's move to Sony supposed to signify that he had finally broken out of his usual group of "corporate buddy customers" at NBC-TV and SyFy Channel, and he would begin attracting a customer base beyond his usual band of idiot buddies at NBC-TV and SyFy Channel? Where is Ronald D. Moore's new customer base for his supposedly brilliant television programming ideas? In a very real sense, Ronald D. Moore did not make a career move of any sort, because he is still stuck with his usual band of "corporate buddy customers" at NBC-TV and SyFy Channel. In other words, he's still stuck with the only people in the television industry who will buy product from him. His "rubber stamping, aversion to making money" friends at NBC-TV and SyFy Channel. Yes, he moved to Sony, but his customers haven't changed and likely never will. So, what was the point in his move to Sony? To provide his usual customer base with the same sorts of money losing products from a different location?

It's been what, over a year since Ronald D. Moore moved to Sony, and what's on his agenda? Some sort of "Harry Potter police procedural thingy" for NBC-TV and......oh yes......the umpteenth sequel series to his money losing take on Battlestar Galactica at SyFy Channel....."Blood & Chrome." Thank God Ronald D. Moore still has his friends at NBC-TV and SyFy Channel because if he didn't, he would be parting ways with Sony right now due to a lack of interested parties purchasing his ideas being developed at Sony. Am I detecting the possibility that Bonnie Hammer, David Howe, and Mark Stern perhaps pulled some strings for Ronald D. Moore.....and got him the hardly spectacular Sony gig? Because when you think about it, Ronald D. Moore's body of work at SyFy Channel was hardly spectacular, and his body of work was always ratings challenged. A body of work that wouldn't have in itself, gotten Ronald D. Moore the Sony gig. And before SyFy Channel, Ronald D. Moore was safely sandwiched within the "Rick Berman Star Trek staff writer's circle" and "producing circle." In itself, not worthy of the move to Sony either. If that were the case, Brannon Braga would have gotten the Sony gig long before Ronald D. Moore would have been even considered. Or Rene Encheverra, or Rick Berman would have gotten it. As near as I can figure, his move to Sony symbolically represents what SyFy Channel wishes Ronald D. Moore's career prospects could be. SyFy Channel has always wanted their adopted child (Ronald D. Moore) to be a god in television, and perhaps they sent him off to year round summer camp at Sony in order to try and achieve this.

Has Columbia-Tri Star placed an order for any of Ronald D. Moore's television ideas at Sony? Not to my knowledge. How about Paramount Pictures? New Line Cinema? United Artists? Not to my knowledge. How about any of the other cable networks? FX? Travel? Disney? Hub? ABC Family? Not to my knowledge. Ronald D. Moore remains in the little row boat he has always been in for the past decade producing low rated schlock for the SyFy Channel and occasionally NBC-TV.

Straying as far away from the Battlestar Galactica formula as SyFy Channel and Ronald D. Moore did is hardly surprising, since leaning in the direction of not making money has always been habitual with SyFy Channel, and Ronald D. Moore. The two of them have never been intellectually wired to comprehend or immerse themselves in what Battlestar Galactica really is (the 1978 series), and they certainly have never been wired to comprehend or immerse themselves in what Science Fiction television programming really is. SyFy Channel and Ronald D. Moore barely keep their noses above drowning water financially by adopting a "smorgasbord" approach in what they do when dealing with the Battlestar Galactica property. After jettisoning what the property is supposed to be (the 1978 series), they then proceed to stuff the property with every conceivable stolen idea they can think of from other Science Fiction properties. Star Trek, Blade Runner, and Species. This in addition to stolen ideas from gangster dramas and soap operas.

The primary losing ingredient in SyFy Channel's and Ronald D. Moore's sham interpretation of the Battlestar Galactica property has been aping the Blade Runner movie as much as possible, with a little bit of Ridley Scott's other Science Fiction movie (Alien) thrown in for good measure. Yes, SyFy Channel and Ronald D. Moore like things dark and gloomy. Which is an easy way to cover up extremely limited abilities in producing and scriptwriting. It's alot easier to create negative drama than it is to create light, happy drama. When things are as one note as they always have been in these sham interpretations of Battlestar Galactica (ceaseless frowning, ceaseless woe, ceaseless gloomy claptrap), it becomes fairly easy to crank out the scripts in assembly line fashion, and in (Speedy Gonzales style)...knock out shooting scripts. "Dark and Gloomy" is the generally acknowledged route to go if you aren't a very good television producer (Ronald D. Moore), if you aren't a very good scriptwriter (Ronald D. Moore), if you aren't very good at working with actors or extracting strong performances from them (Ronald D. Moore), or if you didn't attend a legitimate drama school or never learned what legitimate drama really is (Ronald D. Moore.)

You will never find SyFy Channel and Ronald D. Moore at the Emmy Awards. You will never find their work even nominated for anything, because their work sucks ass. SyFy Channel's and Ronald D. Moore's sham interpretations of Battlestar Galactica have been nothing more than "jury-rigged" constructs for those who really don't know how to produce and script write legitimate pieces of drama. These sham interpretations of Battlestar Galactica have been nothing more than vehicles designed to keep the extremely untalented.....employed.....just barely. Those who really don't know how to lay out a legitimate premise for a television series. Those who really don't know how to produce or script write. Those who really don't know how to work with actors or extract legitimate performances from them.

It has been extremely easy for Ronald D. Moore and SyFy Channel to primarily ape Blade Runner and Alien(s) while knocking out these sham interpretations of Battlestar Galactica. Tell everyone to frown and then utilize your extremely limited scriptwriting abilities to construct your scripts around the frowning, and the doom & gloom. This is producing and scriptwriting for "retards." This is producing and scriptwriting for "idiots." This is why SyFy Channel and Ronald D. Moore have never made a dime working together for the past decade. This is why (in their hands) the Battlestar Galactica property has remained the sleeping giant it always has been.....for an additional decade. This partnership of SyFy Channel and Ronald D. Moore has been the ultimate example of non-existent oversight, and it points to why the SyFy Channel being the irresponsible frat house it always has been under Bonnie Hammer's irresponsible management.....needs to be shut down for good.

Here we are, a decade or so after Bonnie Hammer and her laughable entourage took over management of the SyFy Channel, and we witness what has become an insignificant little cable blip on the television landscape circa 2011. Of course, this didn't happen overnight. It took Bonnie Hammer and her sparkling band of under qualified misfits a decade of collected bad decision making to reduce this cable channel to what it is today. Bonnie Hammer was given an edict by her bosses at NBC-Universal when she first took over the channel a decade ago...."Open up the commercial potential of the Sci-Fi Channel." Ironically and not surprisingly, Bonnie Hammer did the exact opposite. She gutted any mainstream commercial potential the Sci-Fi Channel might have had by going down a path of inexplicably stupid decision making that closed the door on any such possibilities while at the same time alienating every single segment of the Science Fiction viewing audience in the process.

Bonnie Hammer's problem was (and still is) is that she doesn't think in "mainstream....commercial.....and common sense terms." She also has had an absolute ignorance of what Science Fiction television programming is supposed to be, and an absolute aversion towards it. So, instead of following the command of her bosses at NBC-Universal and....."opening up the commercial potential of the SyFy Channel"....Bonnie Hammer proceeded to do three incredibly stupid things during the past decade. (1) She basically surrendered the deed of the SyFy Channel to Ronald D. Moore and David Eick for some God unknown reason. (2) She cancelled every Science Fiction television series on the Sci-Fi Channel left over from the previous management including "Farscape" and "First Wave", and (3) brought professional wrestling (??) to the Sci-Fi Channel. This has had the polarizing effect of turning the Sci-Fi Channel into a disturbing ghost town in terms of lacking potential programming ideas. This also had the polarizing effect of Bonnie Hammer not listening to the orders of her superiors at NBC-Universal, because at no time during the past decade did she "open up the commercial (mainstream) potential of the Sci-Fi Channel." That command did not mean for her to gut the Sci-Fi Channel of its Science Fiction identity via cancelling every single Science Fiction television series for no reason, and it also did not mean for her to turn the Sci-Fi Channel into the personal frat house of Ronald D. Moore and David Eick (for no reason.) Yes, Bonnie Hammer did the exact opposite of the command she was given. She turned the SyFy Channel into an extremely limited viewership outlet, with zero potential for growing the Sci-Fi Channel's base viewership into mainstream and commercial successes.

Bonnie Hammer also had it ass backwards with "Battlestar Galactica." Ronald D. Moore's sham rendition of the property was not the mainstream success Bonnie Hammer considered it. The exact opposite was true. Ronald D. Moore's take on "Battlestar Galactica" was an extremely, audience limiting and closed door (to the mass market) take on the property that to my understanding....ended up being deficit financed. While the "1978 Battlestar Galactica" series remains the mass market, commercial success it always was...that Universal Studios and SyFy Channel continue to deny.

Because of Bonnie Hammer, the SyFy Channel circa 2011 is a ghost town of wasted space on the cable airwaves, with nothing exciting coming up in terms of programming, its present schedule being boring as hell, with no Science Fiction programming or "mainstream potential" in sight. Bonnie Hammer would make a great Republican politician in this manner. Because everything she would touch...would turn to utter crap. And she also has that Republican flair for laying waste to every landscape on this Earth she manages to either inhabit or pass through. And what's another characteristic of your typical Republican? They don't do what they're told to do. Whether it be from their bosses....or their constituents.

So, the SyFy Channel circa 2011 is a submerged ghost ship of Bonnie Hammer's inept management during the past decade. The SyFy Channel has reached the point where, no matter what fucking day of the week it is, there's still nothing on. And it would be extremely generous to suggest that those stupid ass, weekly monster movies of Bonnie Hammer's would fall under the category of......"Hey!! There's something on tonight!!" Would it have killed Bonnie Hammer to do what her bosses told her to do? Probably. Because after all....most likely she is a Republican.

Bonnie Hammer....David Howe.....Mark Stern.....and Ronald D. Moore....David Eick. No strangers to failure. Failure so common for them, that they have excelled at it 365 days a year....for the past decade. Much like a 7 year old building himself a little lemonade stand that doesn't make any money, the individuals above have built a little failing business for themselves at SyFy Channel. What they have done and failed to do....is build a "Battlestar Galactica" business for themselves at SyFy Channel. A "Battlestar Galactica" business as seen through the incompetent eyes of a former "Star Trek" staff writer and routinely failing television producer (Ronald D. Moore).....a "Battlestar Galactica" business as seen through the eyes of three monumentally incompetent television execs in the wrong profession (Bonnie Hammer, Mark Stern, David Howe), and a "Battlestar Galactica" business as through the eyes of an idiot who remains as generally unknown as Ronald D. Moore after a decade of flopping in the business (David Eick).

That's alright though. Because the individuals above still have each other, right? And that's all that matters to them....right? The funny thing about dwelling within an inner sanctum of failure, is that you always have companionship, and you always have the opportunity to equally distribute the blame when such television series as "GINO"....."Caprica"......and the upcoming "Blood & Chrome"......fails. Most likely though, when the idiots above got around to blaming to each other for the failures of "GINO" and "Caprica"....it was more like good natured blaming (ribbing actually) among friends. More like....

"Ha....Ha....He....He!! We really fucked up with "GINO" and "Caprica" didn't we? That's alright, we'll fuck up even more with 'Blood & Chrome!!' (Self congratulatory pats on the back among them.)"

It's their private little world, isn't it? Their private little clubhouse. Where their monumentally eccentric tastes in television programming are safely shielded from the objective scrutiny of the outside world. Where they somehow dug themselves a safe little fox hole within a corporation....where the paychecks somehow continue to flow....and mommy & daddy from the parent corporation haven't yet come down to visit them in order to give them what is affectionately known in the business world as.....Performance Evaluations.

Dear Parent Corporation "Comcast",

Would you be so good as to eventually get around to giving Bonnie Hammer, David Howe, and Mark Stern performance evaluations? Performance evaluations based upon their track record at the SyFy Channel spanning the past 10 years? Pay particular attention to the following three areas of their job performance. (1) SyFy Channel hasn't made any money under their stewardship. (2) SyFy Channel has been losing money because they keep inexplicably giving it away to Ronald D. Moore and David Eick. (3) They keep green lighting sequel series to prior unsuccessful television series.

Sincerely,

The General Public

It's one of those inner sanctum's of failure that needs to be "busted up." Where the corporate parent will ultimately need to come in and put an end to it. Comcast has a serious liability right now (aside from Universal Studios.) It is the SyFy Channel. A cable channel that has been collecting dust, losing money, and throwing what money they do have away on the likes of Ronald D. Moore and David Eick. A cable channel that has been for the past decade.....a sitting, submerged ship of failure. Inner sanctums of failure within the television business can set a dangerous precedent if they aren't weeded about by the corporate parent. If they aren't weeded out (as has been the case with the Bonnie Hammer inner sanctum of failure at SyFy Channel)....Rewarding failure can become the norm (as it has become at the SyFy Channel.) And sure enough, every time Ronald D. Moore has failed in the ratings with his sham interpretations of "Battlestar Galactica"....he has been rewarded for it with yet another sequel series based upon his failed formula for "Battlestar Galactica."

This inner sanctum needs to be broken up by Comcast so that its individual members can learn how to function legitimately and independently from one another in the television business. Bonnie Hammer needs to learn how to run a cable network. Mark Stern and David Howe need to learn how to make rational programming decisions. It goes with saying that Ronald D. Moore needs to learn how to be a legitimate television producer and scriptwriter, and David Eick needs to learn how to do something.....legitimately. Even if it's just opening up his own taco stand with soft drinks.

Universal Studios is such an inept movie making business, that they can't even pull their corporate head out of their corporate ass long enough to expedite production on a "1978 Battlestar Galactica" movie in order to compete with J.J. Abrams "Star Trek" reboot film from 2009. This movie was based upon the original format, themes, characters, and cast members from the "1966 Star Trek" series starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy....and it made shit loads of money. This proves the fact that when a Science Fiction / Fantasy television series is done right the first time around, the public will never forget it, and the public will remain faithful.

If Universal Studios were a psychologically normal movie making business, they would have placed a "1978 Battlestar Galactica" movie on the fast track to production two years ago (at the time they announced such a production) in order to cash in on this lucrative trend in movies. "Movies based upon the original format, themes, charaters, and cast member of an earlier television series." If you respect the source material, the general public will come in droves just as they did for J.J. Abrams "Star Trek" movie from 2009.

Universal Studios not pulling its corporate head out of its corporate ass when it comes to anything having to do with the "1978 Battlestar Galactica" series has become so synonymous with their general all around incompetence as a business in general, that it's a surprise to no one that not even the stellar success of J.J. Abrams "Star Trek" film from 2009 (based upon the original format, themes, characters, and cast members of the "1966 Star Trek William Shatner" series) would motivate Universal Studios to express any sort of initiative in this area.

In this particular case, the definition of insanity is......"Universal Studios preferring to barely tread water financially with Ronald D. Moore's endless sham regurgitations of what he thinks Battlestar Galactica is, rather than taking the obvious cue from J.J. Abrams, and doing Battlestar Galactica in the manner in which it really is....the original format, themes, characters, and cast members from the only true Galactica series having aired beginning in September 1978....and making shit loads of money while doing so."

I had no doubt that after two years, Universal Studios wouldn't even be able to produce a pre-production sketch on a cocktail napkin related to any movie based upon the "1978 Battlestar Galactica" series. A movie they themselves announced two years ago because they wanted to....."cash in on the success of J.J. Abrams Star Trek film." Because years and decades passing without Universal Studios being able to produce even a scribbly sketch on a cocktail napkin related to any movie based upon the "1978 Battlestar Galactica" series is business as usual at Universal Studios.....even if they announce such a film.

Universal Studios shouldn't have announced this film in February 2009 if they weren't going to pull its corporate head out of its corporate ass in order to make it. J.J. Abrams may very well be in post-production right now on a sequel to his mega successful 2009 Star Trek film while Universal Studios remains in the position it has always been in....Sodomizing its own corporate ass with its own corporate head.

Universal Studios and SyFy Channel fell into the "Ronald D. Moore Trap", where Ronald D. Moore is nothing that he is cracked up to be. And Ronald D. Moore's karaoke sham rendition of Battlestar Galactica has been nothing that it has been cracked up to be. It can be safely concluded that the upcoming "Blood & Chrome" series on the SyFy Channel won't have a chance in competing with J.J. Abrams more than likely upcoming sequel to "Star Trek." After all, "Star Trek" will be based upon the original format, themes, characters, and cast members of the beloved "1966 Star Trek" series, whereas "Blood & Chrome" won't be based upon the original format, themes, characters, and cast members of the beloved "1978 Battlestar Galactica" series.

Why hasn't such an unsuccessful channel as the SyFy Channel had the plug pulled on it yet? What can be astutely concluded about SyFy Channel management in the past decade, is that they completely missed the point of what they were supposed to be doing as programmers, and completely missed a golden opportunity to round up an entire generation of Science Fiction and Fantasy fans that grew up on Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and the Star Trek revival in both movies and television....and install them as their permanent viewership. The massive audience has always been there for Science Fiction and Fantasy programming, but SyFy Channel management (Bonnie Hammer, David Howe, Mark Stern) has always been too stupid, too inept, and too intellectually handicapped to round up this audience with imaginative programming and a genuine love for the genre.

Nope. What the SyFy Channel has been doing instead for the past decade, is arguing with the general public on Internet bulletin boards via their misuse of a stealth marketing campaign. Arguing with Science Fiction and Fantasy fans on Internet bulletin boards via the misuse of a stealth marketing campaign. What has the SyFy Channel been arguing with the general public about? Well, the SyFy Channel has always thought that the Science Fiction genre sucks, that Star Trek fans suck, and that Battlestar Galactica fans suck. So in a sense, SyFy Channel has been rebelling against what they were supposed to be during the past decade.....a legitimate Science Fiction cable network. Of course, even if the SyFy Channel wanted to be a legitimate Science Fiction cable network, they wouldn't have the talent and a genuine love for the genre to be one anyway.

Whoever was in charge of staffing the SyFy Channel during the era of NBC-Universal owning it came up with the incredibly lame-brained idea of staffing the channel with corporate idiots (Bonnie Hammer, Mark Stern, David Howe) who not only didn't know a damn thing about programming for a Science Fiction channel, but also had an evident hatred of the Science Fiction genre as demonstrated via the SyFy Channel's misuse of stealth marketing on Internet bulletin boards.

The vast fanbases for Star Wars, Star Trek, and Indiana Jones are still very much amongst us in the population, but the SyFy Channel's continued stellar inability to round them up as viewers will always forever be with us unless the new Comcast owners recognize the SyFy Channel as the useless shit hole it always has been in the cable landscape, and either pulls the plug on it, or gives Bonnie Hammer, David Howe, and Mark Stern the much deserved termination notices they have deserved for the past decade.

Maybe if the SyFy Channel had not have spent the past decade with its reproductive organs merged with Ronald D. Moore's, we wouldn't have had the past decade of his rotten programming ideas either. And by golly, the SyFy Channel might even have had a much larger viewership during the past decade if they had not wasted their time financing and airing Ronald D. Moore's crappy renditions of Battlestar Galactica. Surely the SyFy Channel must have learned by now that Ronald D. Moore does not equal Battlestar Galactica, that Ronald D. Moore does not equal Science Fiction on television, and Ronald D. Moore does not equal financial success.

SyFy Channel is many things (all bad), but they are not by any stretch of the imagination a cable channel for legimitate Science Fiction programming. Their endless problems with having a tiny viewership reflects that. They have yet to tap the surface of the vast Star Trek, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Battlestar Galactica (1978) fanbases. To do so would require talent at the corporate level, and a genuine love for Science Fiction at the corporate level. SyFy Channel might as well call itself the "Ronald D. Moore Channel", because no matter how badly Ronald D. Moore continues to fail with his crappy renditions of Battlestar Galactica (including the upcoming "Blood & Chrome"), he gets yet another crappy series greenlit based upon his previous, low rated (Galactica in Name Only) series that tanked badly in the ratings.

New corporate parent Comcast may eventually be pushed into the position (caused by the SyFy Channel's non-performance as an intended money maker) in having to exercise some responsibility in having to pull the plug on the SyFy Channel. I think a decade of Bonnie Hammer, David Howe, and Mark Stern is long enough punishment for a cable channel to have to endure. I think a decade of Ronald D. Moore not making money for the SyFy Channel is long enough punishment for any corporate parent to have to endure. It also would not be unreasonable for Comcast to pull the plug on "Blood & Chrome" right now because lets be serious. "Blood & Chrome" will be the ratings dud that "Caprica" and "GINO" (Ronald D. Moore's Galactica in Name Only) series were.

The fact that the SyFy Channel has failed to round up the vast fanbases of Star Wars, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, and Galactica (1978) for its viewership (after a decade) is justifiable reason in itself that Bonnie Hammer, Mark Stern, and David Howe should be let go.

It was a decade ago that the new phenomenon called the Internet first put Universal Studios and SyFy Channel on the "hot seat", and revealed that their was (and still is) a massive corporate conspiracy going on against the only true "Battlestar Galactica" series first airing in 1978. Universal Studios / SyFy Channel response to the revelation of what they had been doing to the 1978 series was to play the "Mr. Innocent" routine. "What us?"......"A conspiracy going on at our corporation?"......"Surely you jest!!" Of course, Universal Studios / SyFy Channel took the revelation of their dirty way of doing business with the "Battlestar Galactica" property alot more seriously than that, as they proceeded to spend the next decade misusing the practice of "stealth marketing" in order to verbally assault the general public on Internet bulletin boards for believing that there was a conspiracy going on, and to verbally assault the general public on Internet bulletin boards merely for expressing a fondness for the "1978 Battlestar Galactica" series.

In rational modes of thought, the practice of "stealth marketing" is used to merely promote and drum up interest for an upcoming movie or television series. Unfortunately, in the hands of Universal Studios and SyFy Channel, "stealth marketing" mutated into a sleazy and dark practice of rabid self defense (their self defense) on Internet bulletin boards, in order to (unsuccessfully) squelch the truth about the brutal reality of this conspiracy going on. The fact that Universal Studios / SyFy Channel would actually hire a stealth marketing firm ("Abraham & Harrison") in order to verbally assault the general public on Internet boards (for 10 years and counting) only reinforces the fact that this conspiracy was (and is) indeed going on.

Technically, Universal Studios / SyFy Channel doesn't need "stealth marketing" anymore, because Ronald D. Moore's sham "Battlestar Galactica" series has long since been cancelled, "Caprica" has long since been cancelled, and since "Blood & Chrome" will inevitably follow the troubled ratings predicament of both previous series, "stealth marketing" is no longer necessary. Of course, since Universal Studios / SyFy Channel will continue to misuse "stealth marketing" as a means of rabid self defense against the truth, (and they will most likely continue to do so for the rest of their meaningless, corporate lives), "stealth marketing" will never end at Universal Studios / SyFy Channel. Even if they have no upcoming important projects (to them) to promote. Because Universal Studios / SyFy Channel will always consider "stealth marketing" a justifiable means to an end. They will always consider it a necessary component to their daily corporate lives, in order to (unsuccessfully) defend themselves against the awful and blood curdling "sting" of the blunt truth. The blunt truth being, that they are the worst owners on Earth of the "Battlestar Galactica" property. They are the worst owners the "Battlestar Galactica" property could have. We're talking "bottom of the barrel"......"road kill" type of sleaze bag owners here.

The truth is the truth. Most likely, Universal Studios / SyFy Channel never learned that in the past decade. Most likely, they never learned that "verbally abusive stealth marketing" against the general public (instigated by them on Internet bulletin boards) will never change the fact that they have been and forever shall be in the wrong in how they have deliberately mismanaged the "Battlestar Galactica" property for the past 33 years.

It speaks volumes about Universal Studios / SyFy Channel's all around incompetence with the "Battlestar Galactica" property that they will always need to misuse stealth marketing at the corporate level in order to unsuccessfully defend themselves against the truth of their own sins. It's like the addicted Heroin user who always needs the daily escape from reality, isn't it? Sometimes mutliple, daily escapes from reality are necessary for Universal Studios / SyFy Channel, right?

Friday, February 18, 2011

The other day I commented on the fact that Ronald D. Moore has never been able to get quality actors for his television series. That his only option in the casting process has always been these "Bargain Basement Unknown Actors" from the bowels of Vancouver. Well....sure enough.....lo and behold....the casting process is underway for the "Blood & Chrome" pilot and.....sure enough....lo and behold....."Bargain Basement Unknown Actors" from the bowels of Vancouvers are filling the ranks of the "Blood & Chrome" cast. The sorts of actors you never heard of before and the sorts of actors you will never hear from again after SyFy Channel finally caves in and cancels the inevitable 13 episode "Blood & Chrome" series due to low ratings. Or will SyFy Channel let "Blood & Chrome" move into a low rated second season, third season, or fourth season? Regardless, these bargain basement actors will remain unknowns.

Brian Markinson? Never heard of him. Zak Santiago? Never heard of him. Silas Nash? Ditto. Lili Bordan? Ditto, Ditto. Karen LeBlanc? Ditto, Ditto, Ditto. An extraordinary pool of unknown actors because Ronald D. Moore couldn't get anyone better. Some of these actors are being snatched from the low rated and dud of a series "Caprica." I said this also the other day, didn't I? That there would be "cross-pollination" going on with actors and behind the scene personnel from Ronald D. Moore's old series because his prospects for finding anyone better are wafer thin.

It has always been a small world when it comes to all of Ronald D. Moore's failed television series. Too small. The same uninspired personnel in front of and behind the camera. Of course, this has always mirrored SyFy Channel and Universal Studios with the same old uninspired personnel in white collar management. The same old uninspired personnel ever ready to blow money on yet another uninspired Ronald D. Moore series. "Blood & Chrome" is shaping up to be just that. Yet another boring and uninspired television series from Ronald D. Moore, ripped from his collected memories of every Science Fiction movie and television series he ever watched beginning in his childhood.

The cast members of Ronald D. Moore's series either can't act at all (Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell), or their acting talents strain to reach the limits of bare minimum respectability (Lucy Lawless, Michelle Forbes.) "Blood & Chrome" like "Caprica" and "GINO" before it, will be an in-house, low budget production from the SyFy Channel filmed and post produced in beautiful low budget Vancouver. Ronald D. Moore and his entire entourage (including some SyFy Channel executives) must all live next door to each other in a trailer park in Vancouver, with their mobile homes side by side with one another, for the expeditious opportunity to crank out these low budget and sham television series for the SyFy Channel using the "Battlestar Galactica" brand name and property.

Coming soon to a Wal-Mart DVD bin near you.....the "Blood & Chrome" pilot episode for $5.95. We might even get to buy it before it actually airs on SyFy!!

Just as SyFy Channel has always had its irrational fixation on failed producer / scriptwriter Ronald D. Moore, so too does Universal Studios have an irrational fixation on marginal film director Bryan Singer. Universal Studios apparently won't do a "Battlestar Galactica" feature film (based upon the 1978 series) without Bryan Singer directing. Why? Does Universal Studios want Bryan Singer to fuck up a "Battlestar Galactica" movie as badly as he fucked up Superman in his "Superman Returns" movie? There seems to have always been a brain related fungus going on among executives at Universal Studios and SyFy Channel. The more a producer / scriptwriter and film director fucks up, the more Universal Studios and SyFy Channel wants them for their next project.

To categorize Bryan Singer as a marginal film director would be generous. His skill with actors, his skill with drawing out stellar performances from actors, is dubious at best. The crappy acting from everyone involved in "Superman Returns" must firmly be placed on the shoulders of Bryan Singer for blame. I would dare say that the acting in "Superman Returns" was so bad, that it killed the careers of Brandon Routh and the babe who played Lois Lane. Because quite frankly, you don't see either one of them anymore...not even in late night infomercials. The two of them either went back to acting school, or they're doing "off-off-off-off-Broadway Theatre."

Like most film directors his age, Bryan Singer is terrific at putting on a mindless special effects show, but his skill with actors is......extremely shaky. Contrast this with Bryan Singer's idol....Richard Donner.....who is absolutely stellar in knowing how to work with actors. And Universal Studios wants this guy (and only this guy) to helm their "Battlestar Galactica" feature film? How about if Universal Studios actually searches for a film director (regardless of age) who knows how to work with actors, and who knows how to draw out spectacular performances from actors? Because I gotta' tell you, if Universal Studios ever gets its head out of its ass, and actually gets around to making a "Battlestar Galactica" feature film, the film will have to be more than a mindless special effects extravaganza. There will have to be credible, skilled actors cast in the roles they inhabit. There would have to be winning performances from actors who know how to deliver such performances, and a director who knows how to draw out such performances.

Universal Studios, instead of thinking along such rational lines, is holding out for Bryan Singer to supposedly direct their "Battlestar Galactica" film. Why? What has Bryan Singer ever done professionally to warrant such devotion? I don't recall any Bryan Singer films where the acting stood out magnificently. I do recall special effects light shows such as the "X-Men" movies he directed, and the special effects of "Superman Returns." In the case of "Superman Returns", it completely slipped by Bryan Singer, his crew, and the executives at Warner Brothers while viewing dailies in the screening room, that "Superman" and "Lois Lane" hardly had any dialogue between one another. This was possibly due to the fact that Bryan Singer and his scriptwriter were trying to cover up the fact that Brandon Routh couldn't act, and the actress playing Lois Lane couldn't act either. This may be a possible explanation for the two leads, but it still doesn't condone the fact that Bryan Singer couldn't pull decent performances out of Frank Langella, Kevin Spacey, and even the extras.

Bryan Singer is weak with actors. And because he is weak with actors, he fails to connect with audiences in the stories he is trying to tell. I would put no more faith in Bryan Singer directing a "Battlestar Galactica" feature film than I would Ed Wood directing a "Battlestar Galactica" feature film. Yet, Universal Studios still inexplicably loves this guy. Why? The industry is filled with highly skilled film directors who can pull magnificent performances out of actors, yet Universal Studios won't seek them out for a "Battlestar Galactica" feature film. Instead (like SyFy Channel), Universal Studios is sticking with their "designated guy of underwhelming marginality" (Bryan Singer) to helm their possible "Battlestar Galactica" feature film.

Ronald D. Moore's supernatural / cop thingy series for NBC is in the casting process, and the only actor Ronald D. Moore has been able to attract (as its star??) is Jamie Bamber. Jamie Bamber? One of the former cast members of his "GINO" tv series? That's not trying very hard in the casting process, is it? Or more than likely, it could be something else. That the name Ronald D. Moore attached to any television series simply does not attract the pool of acting talent necessary to successfully pull off a television series. If you were an actor working today (a serious dramatic actor), and an acting job came across your agent's desk, and your agent submitted the audition offer to you....would you go? Uhmm....no you wouldn't . Perhaps it's because that after close to a decade of being an unsuccessful television producer (Ronald D. Moore), the acting pool out there available to you would only be the former cast members of your prior television series. Thus, Jamie Bamber pops up and is chosen for a starring role in Ronald D. Moore's new (inevitably doomed) television series for NBC-TV.

Much like the upcoming (and inevitably doomed "Blood & Chrome" series on SyFy Channel), Ronald D. Moore's new series for NBC-TV isn't generating any excitement or enthusiasm either. Perhaps it's because that after a decade of seeing Ronald D. Moore's work as a television producer / writer, and how far too often his work falls into a boring and uneventful rut of lazy producing and scriptwriting, the television viewing public simply has had enough of Ronald D. Moore and all of his fellow producing, writing, and acting cronies from his former television series always popping back up where ever Ronald D. Moore pops back up.

Jamie Bamber, Tricia Helfer, Edward James Olmos. These are the sorts of second rate actors associated with Ronald D. Moore that always guarantees a boring hour of television for everyone. Should we be ecstatic or thrilled that Jamie Bamber has been cast in Ronald D. Moore's new series for NBC? No. We should regard it as a great big "yawn" as it guarantees (through this first step in the casting process) that Ronald D. Moore and his entire entourage of boring crap makers are gearing up for yet another extremely boring hour of television.

Mentally, Ronald D. Moore has never stopped making his "GINO" series for the SyFy Channel. He's just calling it by two different titles now....."Blood & Chrome" on the SyFy Channel....and whatever the title of his NBC series will be. Ronald D. Moore's cast and crew of boring crap makers herd like buffalo from one failed television series to the next regardless of what network it is on. The lack of variety always evident in the casting process of any Ronald D. Moore television series perfectly mirrors the lack of variety always evident in the behind the scenes personnel of Ronald D. Moore's series. No doubt that at the same time that "Blood & Chrome" and Moore's NBC series will be in production (at the same time), there will be cross pollination going on between the two series as to behind the scenes personnel, and available actors. Simply because no one else in the television industry wants to be associated with the inevitable "sinking ship" that has become the "too common" characteristic of a Ronald D. Moore series. So, the ranks available to Ronald D. Moore have been as wafer thin as they always have been.

Who will be cast in Ronald D. Moore's NBC series next? Kevin Sorbo? Lucy Lawless? Nitwits from the former "Caprica" cast members? I'm telling you, Ronald D. Moore has been treading water and not going anywhere for the past decade. When your instinctive reactions to the news of any new Ronald D. Moore series is "repulsiveness", "yawning", or "ridicule" directed Moore's way, it's always best to avoid anything he does in television like the plague. Because Moore still hasn't gotten off of his "ego high horse", and his work still stinks.

SyFy Channel's upcoming financially unsuccessful and low budget series "Blood & Chrome" will be emulating "Star Trek" and "Top Gun" left and right. SyFy Channel's latest attempt to take Ronald D. Moore's highly unsuccessful and highly uninspired take on "Battlestar Galactica", and infusing it with lots of action and adventure. Mind you, SyFy Channel hasn't changed a damn thing in Ronald D. Moore's losing formula, they're just infusing it with lots of steroids. This is how the retards at Universal Studios / SyFy Channel think. After Ronald D. Moore's highly unsuccessful take on "Battlestar Galactica" has already failed twice ("Caprica", "GINO"), they think that infusing his same losing formula with steroids will yield a successful television series the third time around.

SyFy Channel's rather novel approach to television production....failing again and again with the same losing formula has certainly cemented their crappy reputation as a backwater little cable channel that embraces failure and all of the financial consequences that go along with it. SyFy Channel apparently regards the losing formula that Ronald D. Moore came up with for his shabby karaoke rendition of "Battlestar Galactica", as an adopted child that needs to be coddled again and again, no matter how much of an imbecile the child is. "Blood & Chrome" will fail because it will contain the same problems that "GINO" and "Caprica" had. Inferior producing and scriptwriting, an ill-defined and hardly coherent premise, the surfaces of alien planets looking just like a sunny afternoon in British Columbia due to the location shooting that will be done there, everyone wearing three piece suits and overcoats, and no attempt whatsoever will be made to implement imaginative art direction and production design to try and convince the audience that "Blood & Chrome" does not take place on Earth in the present day. On top of all of these previous mistakes that made their appearances in "GINO" and "Caprica", SyFy Channel will then try to put a fresh coat of action / adventure paint on these mistakes in order to.....see if that works for "Blood & Chrome." To see if that might finally yield (for them) a financially successful television series.

Ronald D. Moore has been ripping off "Star Trek" for so long in what he has done for the SyFy Channel it now seems like a long term, never ending hangover. Moore's favorite source for "Star Trek" ideas he likes to regurgitate is "Star Trek - The Next Generation." No doubt he believes that because the "Next Generation" is the oldest of the "Star Trek" series he used to work on, no one will remember what he is ripping off. Of course, don't put it past Moore to mine the "1966 Star Trek" series for ideas either. Nothing is safe from Ronald D. Moore. This certainly holds true of a character that recently popped up in a "Blood & Chrome" pre-production painting. It shows a fembot alien of same sort bearing a striking resemblance to the character of "Sil" in the "Species" movies. Moore no doubt feels that because the "Species" movies are roughly 15 years old, no one will remember "Sil." This character has a slaughtered victim in its cybernetic hands, on an ice planet. Can we look forward to Moore ripping off "Gun on Ice Planet Zero" and the "Hoth" planet as well in "The Empire Strikes Back?"

It won't be necessary for anyone to watch "Blood & Chrome" on the SyFy Channel. Because everyone will have already seen the source material "Blood & Chrome" rips off, in the much better productions the source material came from: "The Empire Strikes Back", "Species", and "Star Trek - The Next Generation." Quite frankly, "Blood & Chrome" can rip-off "Top Gun" all it wants to, because I never liked that movie anyway.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Remember that stupid ass commercial the SyFy Channel ran in the summer of 09 (at the time that Warehouse 13 debuted) advertising its name change from "Sci-Fi" to "SyFy?" It had a teenage couple (figures) walking hand in hand as they made their way through a museum / house with exotic animals coming to life and fuckin' colored balloons were everywhere? SyFy Channel had high hopes for itself at the time this commercial debuted. They were having delusions of grandeur, that the name change to "SyFy" was going to propel them into the big leagues with "ABC Family", "Nickelodeon", and "Cartoon Network."

Well, a year and a half later, the SyFy Channel remains where it has always been. Stopped dead in the water with continued incompetent management endlessly greenlighting the same old crap from Ronald D. Moore that got them into ratings trouble in the first place. The SyFy Channel hasn't gone anywhere, isn't anywhere now, and won't be getting anywhere in the future because the same old idiots (Bonnie Hammer, Mark Stern, David Howe) who got the channel into trouble in the first place, are still running it. And the same old people who got the SyFy Channel into trouble in the first place with their sure fire ratings poison (Ronald D. Moore, David Eick) are still running lose on the SyFy Channel schedule.

Any business major will tell you that you don't keep doing the same thing again and again in business if it was historically proven to not make money. The SyFy Channel never got the memo. The SyFy Channel instead, spent millions of dollars on that stupid ass commercial in the summer of 09. A tacky piece of cosmetic fluff that promised vague changes of some sort on the SyFy Channel, that you knew damn well were never going to come true whatever those changes would have been. The SyFy Channel's fundamental problem is and has been....bad management. Plain and simple. The sort of bad management that either denies that it is the problem, or the sort of bad management that puts a band-aid on a hemorrhage. Since this mangement has been running this channel (led by Bonnie Hammer), they have done absolutely nothing worthwhile or of note to propel the Sci-Fi Channel into what it is fully capable of being. A year and a half after that stupid ass commercial, and a good decade and beyond after Bonnie Hammer began managing the Sci-Fi Channel, its future prospects are about as assured as a condemned building facing a wrecking ball. There hasn't been and never shall be anything of note on the SyFy Channel. The channel remains an undefined piece of property herded together with hundreds of other cable channels that do indeed, have defined identities all of their own.
Is it any wonder why the SyFy Channel doesn't have the viewership it should have? Is it any wonder why the SyFy Channel is generally regarded as a vague and financially struggling little cable channel?

One of the SyFy Channel's more obvious faults is that they allowed themselves to fall into the trap of defining Science Fiction fans by the stereotype of "nerds in the basement." They then proceeded to rebel against, and scratch & claw against what Science Fiction programming is supposed to be.....Science Fiction!! The ironic thing is, the only ones uncomfortable with what Science Fiction programming is supposed to be....is the SyFy Channel! No doubt they erroneously defined Science Fiction fans with the stereotype generally preferred by their corporate colleagues. The general public has never been uncomfortable with Science Fiction television programming in the slightest. After all, the general public grew up with Star Wars and Star Trek reruns. And the present crappy management of the SyFy Channel had to come along and ruin it all with their corporate phobias and corporate bias against Science Fiction television programming. SyFy Channel management are the only ones who have these problems with Science Fiction television programming, and their lack of financial riches reflects that. No doubt SyFy Channel management is embarrassed to be doing what they're doing for a living. This in itself is a good indication that the lot of them need to be fired, and they need to move on with what might genuinely interest them. Dead beats and dead weight at a cable channel (particularly Bonnie Hammer, Daivd Howe, and Mark Stern) is unacceptable.

Remember the bad old days of the Sci-Fi Channel, when everything they did totally sucked ass yet they advertised the hell out of what they were doing anyway? The SyFy Channel still sucks ass in everything they do (especially when it pertains to Ronald D. Moore), but they're alot more quiet about it nowadays. What happened? What happened to those embarrassing (and loud) days of yesteryear (for the SyFy Channel) when they had the unmitigated gall to do such insane things such as putting Ronald D. Moore and the cast of "GINO" on the cover of "Entertainment Weekly" magazine? When they had the unmitigated gall to renew "GINO" for a total of four seasons despite its crashing low ratings, and after the pilot of "GINO" received the lowest audience test scores in television history....and shout about each season renewal from the highest mountain top? When they had the unmitigated gall to receive some sham award from Harlan Ellison who supposedly praised "GINO" to holy high heaven despite the fact that it was extremely uncharacteristic of Harlan Ellison to shower such praise on a television series that truly sucked ass in every department....and was so in your face about sucking ass in every department? When they had the unmitigated gall to prance Ronald D. Moore around on their corporate shoulders trying to pass him off as the "Messiah of Televised Science Fiction?" When they had the unmitigated gall to saturate advertise their "Saturday Night Stink Fests at the Movies" thinking that their "Mutant Monster Turds" symbolized quality television? When they had the unmitigated gall to try and remake the "Wizard of Oz" into a dark and gritty retelling? Complete with their dreaded ingredients they never get right....."hip and contemporary?" Hip and contemporary to the SyFy Channel means a downtown area 10 years after a nuclear blast. What happened to those days? The days we are all now extremely relieved are gone.

It certainly isn't a case of the SyFy Channel evolving and growing. Hell, if the SyFy Channel had the potential to evolve and grow, they would have begun doing so at least a decade ago. No, I think it's a case of the SyFy Channel slowly winding down and getting ready to die. There are only two states of existence that the SyFy Channel is capable of....sucking ass in everything they do.....or getting ready to die. The SyFy Channel simply doesn't have the energy anymore to consciously do the exact opposite of what Science Fiction fans want, and what "Battlestar Galactica" fans want....with John Williams conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in the background. Their upcoming "Blood & Chrome" series is nothing more than "after flatulence".....after the bowel induced orgy caused by "GINO" and "Caprica." They simply don't have the energy anymore to enthusiastically not make money caused by their own incompetence. They simply got burned out on "Sky One" always bailing them out of their crappy programming decisions.....particularly the ones involving Ronald D. Moore. They simply got burned out on the joy they always felt when advertisers abandoned them in droves.....particularly when the programs were produced and written by Ronald D. Moore. Yes, the SyFy Channel we have always known....."The little cable channel that never could with an ego the size of the Grand Canyon".....is no more.

Yes, the SyFy Channel isn't the rebel anymore. Rebelling against making money....rebelling against putting the types of programs on the air that the public would like to see.....rebelling against common sense when making programming decisions such as cancelling "Farscape".....rebelling against the overwhelming fact that Edward James Olmos has easily dethroned William Shatner as the "worst actor of all time".....rebelling against the overwhelming fact that Ronald D. Moore has not one lick of talent as a television producer and scriptwriter. Rebelling against the fact that whatever the cast members of "GINO" and "Caprica" were doing on screen....it sure as hell wasn't acting. The SyFy Channel doesn't do these sorts of things anymore with a stealth marketing orchestra playing behind them.

Yes, the SyFy Channel is now doing their "fucking up" quietly. They're quietly putting "Blood & Chrome" together as a 13 episode first season series....a 13 episode first season they will spread out over 5 years no matter how low the ratings get. They're quietly making their "Saturday Night Stink Fests At The Movies" without the hoopla. They're quietly coming up with new programming ideas that sound really shitty on paper, and will suck even more when the ideas are committed to film. If they continue to associate with Ronald D. Moore....they're doing it quietly. Yes, this is the new SyFy Channel of the new decade......"We suck, and we're quiet about it." Bonnie Hammer doesn't do anymore interviews, and the sound of chirping is heard within the vicinity of Mark Stern and David Howe. The SyFy Channel simply burned themselves out advertising the hell out of their overall "sucktitude" during the decade of the 2000s.

There is no one in the world looking forward to the SyFy Channel's upcoming and doomed to low ratings production called "Blood & Chrome." There is also no one in the world who has enjoyed the production partnership of Ronald D. Moore and SyFy Channel, since the partnership itself has come to symbolize all that is wrong in televised Science Fiction, and all that is wrong in how Universal Studios and SyFy Channel has been managing the Battlestar Galactica property. The partnership has been all too characteristic of "status quo run-amok" in television politics, where personal favors back and forth go too far in the production of television series.

"Blood & Chrome" will be "status quo run-amok" within Universal Studios / SyFy Channel, just as "Caprica" and "GINO" were "status quo run-amok" within Universal Studios / SyFy Channel. The years and decades may slip away, and the world may change, but nothing that will ever change, is how Universal Studios / SyFy Channel have been totally fucked up in how they have been managing the "Battlestar Galactica" property, and how fucked up they have been in continuing to green light Galactica themed television series from Ronald D. Moore, despite his shameful financial track record of being unable to come up with a "Battlestar Galactica" named series that the public would like. Two consecutive ratings failures from Ronald D. Moore weren't enough for the SyFy Channel ("GINO", "Caprica"), they have an instinctive need apparently to fail for the third consecutive time...."Blood & Chrome."

I think I may finally have psychological insight into what makes Universal Studios / SyFy Channel tick, at least partially. These string of failures with Ronald D. Moore are bringing them attention. Universal Studios / SyFy Channel crave attention even if the attention is.....Notorious.....Even if the attention eventually paints them as Knuckleheaded Dimwits who don't know a damn thing about the profession they are supposed to be in. "GINO", "Caprica", and the upcoming "Blood & Chrome" have certainly achieved this for them. These three series have notoriously achieved for the SyFy Channel, the revelation that they don't know a damn thing about producing Science Fiction for television, and they also don't know a damn thing about what made the "Battlestar Galactica" series from the year 1978 so successful. Yes, Universal Studios / SyFy Channel crave attention. They have a psychological starving need to announce to the cable world that....."Look over here!! Here we are!! We exist!! Fucking up really badly with every series we green light for Ronald D. Moore....but we still exist!! Acknowledge our existence!! Acknowledge that you notice us!!" That's what it's all about with them, isn't it? That's what it has always been with them, hasn't it? It isn't financial or intangible success that Universal Studios / SyFy Channel wants. They want someone (anyone) to look at them, and notice them. It hasn't happened yet with "GINO" and "Caprica", but maybe....just maybe....someone might notice and look at them when they debut their low rated crap fest...."Blood & Chrome." They want to be regarded as geniuses for having put "GINO" and "Caprica" on the air (it hasn't happened yet), and they also (desperately) want "Blood & Chrome" to financially succeed in the ratings (the way that "GINO" and "Caprica" didn't) so they can be regarded as geniuses for having the foresight to stick with Ronald D. Moore's concept this long (after a decade of consecutive failure with Ronald D. Moore's concept.) This isn't rational business thinking.....it's ass backwards self indulgence for ego maniacs. Because Ronald D. Moore's flawed take on "Battlestar Galactica" will continue to fail no matter how long Universal Studios / SyFy Channel sticks with it, and no matter how long they continue to blow the shareholder's money on it.

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Chris Abraham of the stealth marketing firm "Abraham & Harrison" (hired by the SyFy Channel) and his quoted admission-

quote- "I was part of the online promotion and response team for the Battlestar Galactica miniseries on Sci-Fi Channel back in the day, before they became SyFy.

The USENET Newsgroups (alt.battlestar-galactica for one) were pissed off. It was partly my job to circulate amongst the online communities, circa 2003, to convince a vocal online population of 40-something men that the Sci-Fi Channel interpretation was the last place that the Battlestar fans were ever going to get -- the last opportunity -- and that they would never get another go, unlike the Star Trek franchise, at reviving the campy 1978-1980 series with original cast.

Part of my argument with the online Original Battlestar Galactica influencers was that Sci-Fi had pushed through the reissuing of the original Battlestar Galactica series into DVD and by offering a Cylon box set.

Another part was that both Ronald D. Moore and David Eice were completely committed to the brand and that Sci-Fi was committed to a vision that may have been different in its interpretation but was, surely, as true in its ultimate morals and vision.

In the end, though, my argument came down to, "it has been 23-years since the series was canceled and it hasn't been picked up by now? Well, you had better get behind this project because this is probably the last -- your last -- chance at reviving Battlestar -- plus, did I mention the cool reissue and remastered Cylon box set?"

It was fascinating to be able to work around the community online, not only on USENET, but wherever the conversation was happening. It was particularly challenging to appeal to the old guard over the sex change of Starbuck.

I even had authority to leak the fact that Executive Producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick were totally into hiring original cast members, including the fly-in-the-ointment-at-the-time Richard Hatch -- none of it rang true, it was such a tough crowd. Moore and Eick even promised to tip the hat all the time to the old gang, including cheeky references to the old theme, the old Cylons, and any number of playful homages (which they surely did in spades over the course of the series).

Instead of really embracing the idea of a darker, stranger, more brutal BSG, the only argument that rang true was that this Battlestar Galactica miniseries was the last opportunity that these true blue OBSG fans had to any of the above. They homages would not have time to play out, the guest appearances would not come to pass, and if the miniseries never got picked up, it would be bad for everyone involved, especially Richard Hatch himself (who ended up rocking the role of Vice-President Tom Zarek, by the way!)

How did I end up on this memory lane? Well, I was inspired by this exerpt of Augie Ray's article, Can Influencers Be a Bad Influence?

I just wanted to mention that the Battlestar Galactica project was not just left to chance and to the passion of the project and the strength of the vision. My team and I worked our asses off to make sure we turned the tide of disapproval online well before the airing date of the miniseries. We stacked the deck, we worked on getting hearts and minds well before, and we at the very least made sure these true blue committed fans of the originale series gave the week-long miniseries a try -- we kept up their curiosity and stoked the fire of their interest.

Can I call Viral and Buzz Marketing AKA Social Media Marketing circa 2003 the old days or the glory days? Well, here the excerpt I spoke about above, Can Influencers Be a Bad Influence?:

Executive Producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick specifically set out to deconstruct [Battlestar Galactica]. Cylons looked like humans, capes and lasers were replaced with military uniforms and bullets, and Starbuck was turned into a woman. In the words of Bonnie Hammer, then the president of the SciFi Network, "It was no longer your father's Battlestar Galactica. It was provocative, it was edgy, it was dark."

But what if a certain group of influencers had gotten their way? As Entertainment Weekly reports, Moore got a rocky reception when he showed preview clips at Galacticon, a Battlestar Galactica fan convention. "The clips ended and they booed and they hissed," he reports. Richard Hatch, star of the original series, agrees, "It was icy-cold in there. It was obvious that no one liked it." In the end, a Galacticon attendee stood up and asked Moore, "Now that you've heard all of this, will you take a pledge now that if this show goes to series, you will make sure it's more in keeping with what we would like to see?"

Moore could very well have treated the attendees of Galacticon as influencers; after all, this was a bunch of people so in love with the mythology of the show that 25 years later they still traveled across the country to gather. So what was the Executive Producer's response to the fan's question? Moore didn't promise changes to appease the existing fan base. He didn't even tell the Galacticon fans he'd give consideration to their concerns. Instead, Moore stood before the only group of consumers who gave a damn about the Battlestar Galactica franchise and said, "This is the show. You may not like the show, you don't have to watch the show, but this is the show that we're making."

Rather than listen to the fans of the campy 80s series, the SciFi Channel instead turned to other science fiction fans, many of whom appreciated darker and more serious fare such as the "Matrix" series and cult flick "Blade Runner." In doing so, they rejected the easy and obvious choice for a group of influencers and instead found the ones that really mattered. At a subsequent Comic-Con convention, the stars of the new show were "pleasantly surprised at the positive fan response."

Moore and his crew might have been tempted to take same course as the makers "Snakes on a Plane," opting to involve the existing fan base, turning to them for scripts, and allowing the BSG fans to set a different direction. But they didn't. Why? Bonnie Hammer summed it up best when she said that fans "can't drive the creative process." -unquote

This stealth marketing of course, has continued with "Caprica", and is proceeding with "Blood & Chrome." The stealth marketing process is also continuing to be misused by Universal Studios and SyFy Channel in their hostile interactions with the general public on Internet bulletin boards.

So, you want to explore the highly futile and low paying position of stealth marketing for Universal Studios and SyFy Channel? Your application might very well get turned down as you might not be considered "mentally ill" enough to fulfill the position. Of course, the likes of Glen A. Larson (who posts as NBC-Universal on the Frakheads board) got hired on right away because quite frankly, the guy has always had a screw loose. He has always had that vital mentally ill characteristic necessary for stealth marketing. To continue doing so despite the fact that the activity has done absolutely nothing to improve the on-line reputation of Universal Studios and SyFy Channel, and after a decade of trying to swing public opinion the other way in favor of Universal Studios and SyFy Channel, Glen A. Larson (NBC-Universal) has failed to mask the fact that Universal Studios and SyFy Channel totally suck ass in their (attempted and failed) management of the Battlestar Galactica property, and the fact that Universal Studios and SyFy Channel totally suck ass in their handling of anything having to do with Science Fiction or Fantasy.

The last resting place of Glen A. Larson's (NBC-Universal's) stealth marketing activities is the Frakheads board, where his total audience of maybe five fellow (mentally ill) stealth marketers nod their heads at everything the lunatic says, no matter how insane it is....."Yep, that's right Glen!! That's how I see it too!!" Glen A. Larson only posts there now, because his glory days of having seven fellow lunatics (stealth marketers) agreeing with him in unison is now long gone. Larson still posts his endless book reports (actually his wishful fantasies that he has a global audience of millions trembling at his every word) on the Frakheads board, in between his raiding of his refrigerator which is actually the size of the Empire State Building. The usual contents are always there. Beer.....cold cuts.....Hostess Ding Dongs......350 gallons of milk.....and a lifetime supply of Cocoa Pebbles breakfast cereal.

I haven't been to the Frakheads forum in ages, because I recognize a dead forum when I know one. I know the Frakheads forum is a graveyard of lunatics who either stealth marketed for Universal Studios and SyFy Channel, or lunatics who agreed with the nonsense that was said in the stealth marketing...."Yep, that's how I see it too, Glen!!" All of this insanity points to the sad fact of course, that the reason why the "1978 Battlestar Galactica" series was never revived, is because its copyright owners have been too mentally ill to do so. It would take mentally healthy people to bring back the "Battlestar Galactica" series from the year 1978, and imbue it with all of its former, optimistic ingredients: Hope, a strong sense of family and friendship within a normal and loving family, the triumph of the human spirit, and perseverance in reaching a goal. These are advanced concepts of humanity (from the point of view of Universal Studios and SyFy Channel) that the management at Universal Studios and SyFy Channel could never grasp, because the lot of them are all mentally ill. So, they do and continue to do the only thing mentally ill people know how to do, crank out Ronald D. Moore's mentally ill renditions of the "Battlestar Galactica" story. This is the mentally ill nonsense the stealth marketing on behalf of Universal Studios and SyFy Channel has been trying (and failing) to defend, justify, and rationalize for the past decade. Glen A. Larson (NBC-Universal on the Frakheads board) has been the primary perpetrator in failing to stealth market and package not only the mental illness evident in every film frame of every series Ronald D. Moore has done for the SyFy Channel, but also the overall crappy producing and scriptwriting evident in every series Ronald D. Moore has done for the SyFy Channel.

Make no mistake about it. Universal Studios / SyFy Channel has been truly disturbed and eccentric subsidiaries of whatever parent corporation owns them at the time. They are the first subsidiaries in Internet history to not only use stealth marketing to promote the crappy movies and television series they make, but to also use stealth marketing to try and defend themselves against those who astutely discover they totally suck ass in the science fiction and Battlestar Galactica business.

Now, the employees and stealth marketers (of the stealth marketing firm "Abraham & Harrison) working for Universal Studios and SyFy Channel have never been good at utilizing stealth marketing for any purpose, whether it be promoting television series and movies, or defending the crappy reputations of Universal Studios and SyFy Channel. So, they have routinely resorted to name calling, libeling authors and their books on Amazon.com, making crank calls to various members of the general public they think they have been arguing with on Internet bulletin boards, and hacking into the admin functions of Internet bulletin boards in order to try and censor posts that have astutely pointed out the endless faults of Universal Studios and SyFy Channel.

One thing is certain and undeniable. The Battlestar Galactica property has always been owned by a group of truly sleazy and morally challenged riff-raff. These people are toilet scum. They always have been and always will be. These are the sorts of people who stand on street corners at 2:00 in the morning and smoking cigarettes in the sleaziest sections of town. Then they return to the college fraternity work atmosphere of Universal Studios and SyFy Channel.....where passing gas on the Internet is more important than making money for themselves. I woud say that the management employees of Universal Studios and SyFy Channel, as well as the "Abraham & Harrison" stealth marketers they have laways been in cahoots with, are the ultimate Internet junkies. Routinely being on the Internet 365 days a year including Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas day. Because they're always more interested in their reputations rather than putting out quality products on our movie and television screens. They have never learned that "personal reputations" are personal responsibilities. And if they want to be thought of fondly, then they had better make movies and television programs that will be thought of fondly. They have always wanted their cake and wanted to eat it too. They want to make crap (any of the Ronald D. Moore series made for the SyFy Channel), yet they want to be thought of fondly for it. Thus, the endless necessity of Universal Studios and SyFy Channel endlessly warping and twisting the original premise of stealth marketing (product promotion) into a frenzied and maniacal mechanism of self defense. Self defense of their reputations that has always gone badly, because you can't successfully defend yourselves using stealth marketing when the criticisms truly are accurate descriptions of who and what you are.

Universal Studios and SyFy Channel also broke an unspoken rule using stealth marketing in this manner. You never....ever....for any reason......break the fourth wall so to speak, and come into contact with the general public in this manner. Any Hollywood movie studio and television facility knows this.....except Universal Studios and SyFy Channel.

Universal Studios / SyFy Channel have been a couple of subsidiaries that have existed for far too long outside of the fringes of acceptable behavior. Endless eccentricities and astonishing oddities have characterized their handling of the Battlestar Galactica copyright for the past 33 years. To the extent, that they have never.....and I mean never.....have made anything remotely resembling stellar profits with this property. Their continued psychotic obsession with Ronald D. Moore's financial failure of a take on Battlestar Galactica, combined with their unwillingness to handle the property properly, has caused them to close out yet another decade (and begin a new one) still not making the sort of money the Battlestar Galactica property is fully capable of making if it were owned by much more intelligent and astute business people.

It's an undeniable fact that Comcast is a much more customer friendly corporate parent than former corporate parents NBC, Vivendi, and Seagrams ever were. This will indeed spill over to everything that Comcast now owns. Including Universal Studios and SyFy Channel. In no uncertain terms, Comcast will indeed (eventually get around to) "bug bombing" the hornet's nest of anti-Galactica sentiment within both Universal Studios and SyFy Channel. And this (oh so wonderfully means) that the likes of Bonnie Hammer, David Howe, Mark Stern, and Glen A. Larson will not fit into the new "customer friendly" corporate culture that Comcast will eventually implement into everything they now own. And it may even get around to "customer unfriendly" forums such as http://forums.syfy.com/, http://www.stallioncornell.com/board, and the Frakheads board eventually being shut down by Comcast.

This of course, will have a tragic effect on Glen A. Larson's life as he will no longer have anything to occupy his time on Internet bulletin boards....such as verbally attacking the general public on Internet bulletin boards under many of these handles he posts under, such as.....NBC-Universal, MrPostModernist, Arthur, Schnorkenschneider, and Hank on the Frakheads board, and Stallion_Cornell & Jim Bennett on http://www.stallioncornell.com/board. Comcast will also no doubt put an end to Universal Studios and SyFy Channel executives (along with their hired stealth marketers) posting negative, bogus reviews of books they don't like on http://www.amazon.com/.

Yes, the time has come for Comcast to begin taking out the trash at Universal Studios and SyFy Channel. The trash that NBC should have taken to the dumpster. The trash that Vivendi should have taken to the dumpster. The trash that Seagrams should have taken to the dumpster. The present bunch of anti-Galactica personnel at Universal Studios and SyFy Channel are and have been extremely bad for business. They are extremely bad for the bottom line. Their unwanted presence and behavior for decades has resulted in the Battlestar Galactica copyright being absolutely immobilized with toxic and eccentric business behavior. They need to go....all of them....and this includes Bonnie Hammer, David Howe, Mark Stern, and Glen A. Larson. Comcast needs to clean out both Universal Studios and SyFy Channel with jumbo boxes of soap suds, and high powered water hoses. The personnel muck and gunk that has accumulated within Universal Studios for decades, and accumulated for the past decade at SyFy Channel is absolutely disgusting, and is a sad commentary on business culture in general when the wrong people end up where they shouldn't be in the business world.

The "Hessaris Outpost" is an exciting new concept in on-line retail. While still going through a growth phase, it's an all purpose store that rather cleverly markets the disgust (we all have) for all Universal Studios and SyFy Channel executives as its central premise....under a wide variety of different products. You can go the direct route of showing this disgust by purchasing any of the books on sale there. Or...you can go the indirect route of showing this disgust via purchasing bar / alcoholic supplies for the bar you have in your basement. As we all know, Universal Studios and SyFy Channel executives have dabbled in a hard liquor drink or two. Or....you can purchase a natural remedy for anal itching. As we all know, anal itching is a frequent symptom of SyFy Channel executives every time they make one of their horrific programming decisions. How about a natural remedy for water retention and blood pressure? Universal Studios executives no doubt suffer from that. How about the "Be-Dry Bedwetting Formula for Childhood Bedwetting?" David Howe and Mark Stern of the SyFy Channel could certainly pick up that natural remedy.....for themselves. Do you have pets? Why not try the "PetAlive Better Bladder Control For Relieving Urinary Tracts?" As we all know, Universal Studios and SyFy Channel executives have had the same problem.....for decades.

Just remember one thing. Whatever ailment you suffer from, Universal Studios and SyFy Channel executives suffer from the same thing....in the brain.

I trust you have settled into your new digs as the new "Big Guy" in charge of Universal Studios and SyFy Channel. I also trust that eventually, you will come to realize the cess pool of a mess you inherited in the form of Universal Studios and SyFy Channel. I'll start with the most laughable issue first, since SyFy Channel is the most laughable subsidiary any new CEO could be stuck with.

Quite frankly Mr. Roberts, SyFy Channel couldn't make serious money even if Bonnie Hammer hosted her own weekly show pulling magic coins out of her rear end and tossing those magic coins into the magic wishing well (otherwise known as Glen A. Larson's capsized refrigerator.) Mr. Roberts, SyFy Channel hasn't been making any (what you would call) serious money for the past decade that Bonnie Hammer has either been directly in charge of it, or whether she has been within a 50 mile diameter of the channel's offices doing other miscellaneous duties, such as flossing her teeth during industry wide "Sweeps Week."

During Bonnie Hammer's "Reign of Terror"....er...uhm....."tenure" at the SyFy Channel as its hands on programming chief, she managed to quite successfully waste the shareholder's money putting such nonsense on the air as professional wrestling, weekly horror movies (of her own producing) that occasionally get mentioned (quite sympathetically) in such publications as "Hijinks Magazine" and in the "Girl Scout Troop F-12 Joke Pages" of their monthly magazine. I have no doubt Mr. Roberts, that you have your own financial people who will eventually get around to studying the SyFy Channel's debit and credit sheets for the past decade, and no doubt your financial people will be asking...."Where are all the profits?"......"What has this channel been doing for the past decade?"......"Why do we have all of these 'Pay to The Order of....' receipts to some guy named Ronald D. Moore....and a zero ROI every single time?" "Why has the SyFy Channel only netted $15.97 during the past 10 consecutive years?" My condolences to you Mr. Roberts, because one of the subsidiaries you inherited (SyFy Channel) was already dead long before you got there. A rotting and decaying corpse that started stenching in the year 2002. Coincidentally, about the same time that Bonnie Hammer first arrived there.

SyFy Channel presently has a new production in the works titled "Blood & Chrome", which is a spin-off of the monumentally unsuccessful "Caprica" series, which was a spin-off of Ronald D. Moore's monumentally unsuccessful "Galactica" series. Pull the plug on "Blood & Chrome"....please? Could you do that, Mr. Roberts? Remember the scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" , Mr. Roberts...when Indy just pulls out his pistol and blows away that guy with the sword? Do the same for "Blood & Chrome" Mr. Roberts, I urge you. Don't even let the "Blood & Chrome" series go through its fancy (low ratings) motions of juggling a sword so to speak (as the sword juggling guy did in "Raiders.") Just put the "Blood & Chrome" series to rest now so it will never have that chance. Do you really want to have another flop cable series on your hands just as Ronald D. Moore's prior two series were flops for the SyFy Channel?

Universal Studios is another problem you inherited. Their DVD department is an absolute mess. All too frequently, classic television series have been put out on DVD without any sort of digital cleanup. I specifically refer to the fourth season of "Emergency!" - starring Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe. Without a doubt, the worst DVD transfer of a classic television series in DVD history. Universal Studios long sordid history of releasing classic tv series in such poor condition is notorious among DVD technical experts and fans. I also take issue with the fact that Universal Studios only released the first two seasons of the classic HBO series "Dream On" - starring Brian Benben, and not releasing the final four seasons. They dumped edited versions of the season three episodes on Hulu.com, while seasons four-six have no doubt vanished into the great nether world of Universal Studios corporate incompetence. Does this mean the season three episodes are public domain now? If they are, they're a Hell of alot better off.

Perhaps it would be necessary for you and your staff Mr. Roberts, to take an extra special look at Universal Studios and SyFy Channel. They most definitely need extra special attention in getting their performance standards up to a level that Comcast can be proud of and comfortable with. Of course, that won't happen if the same people working at Universal Studios and SyFy Channel.....remain there. Perhaps it's time for the likes of Bonnie Hammer and Glen A. Larson to go on a world cruise, and keep circling the globe ad infinitum.